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New Scientist Live

Don’t forget the lessons of deadly lead

Politicians who say environmental regulations are an unnecessary burden are ignorant of history and contemptuous of future generations

David McNew/Getty

IN 1974, the US Environmental Protection Agency began one of the most successful clean-up operations in history. Under the Clean Air Act, it demanded that lead be phased out from gasoline. Within a few years, lead in the environment had dropped to its lowest level for decades.

The rise and fall of leaded fuel is a warning from history. Introduced in the 1920s, it was known to be horribly toxic but the profits proved hard to resist (see “Inventor hero was a one-man environmental disaster“). With no environmental red tape to get in the way, “Ethyl” was soon being added to fuel all over the world.

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The result was a humanitarian disaster. Lead is a neurotoxin that particularly affects developing brains. According to the World Health Organization, exposure in childhood reduces IQ, shortens attention span and increases antisocial behaviour. Lead poisoning also causes anaemia, immunotoxicity, high blood pressure and damage to the kidneys and reproductive organs. The effects are irreversible and there is no safe level of exposure.

True to form, the Trump administration has declared war on the EPA, vowing to cut its funding to the bone. A Republican congressman has even tabled a bill to “terminate” the EPA at the end of 2018. The bill is largely symbolic, but encapsulates the GOP’s reckless attitude to regulators as a needless drag on US competitiveness.

Decimating the EPA threatens to take us back to the dark days when the environment was a cheap and convenient waste dump and the human cost mere collateral damage. Walking away from the Paris Agreement on climate change is equally bad.

There are similar fears that the UK’s departure from the EU will be an excuse to water down or abolish environmental and consumer protection. Anyone who thinks that is a good idea should acquaint themselves with the history of leaded petrol.

The US Clean Air Act saved lives. But maybe the lingering effects of lead poisoning are still affecting some people’s brains.

This article appeared in print under the headline “Making Earth dirty again”